Computerized Eye-tracking Attention Training for Children With Special Needs

Children with special needs (e.g. autistic spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) are found to have sustained attention problems. Several behavioral interventions have been carried out in the past to improve this situation. However, these interventions are often involved a high administration cost. Recently, researchers have been focusing on training the eye gaze fixation using the eye-tracking training games, as some of the research studies reported a correlation between atypical eye gaze patterns with poor sustained attention. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a computerized eye-tracking attention training. Two batches of 48 primary school students will be recruited from email and the subject pool of the Department of Psychology of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Participants are dividedly randomly and equally into either intervention or control group. Participants in both groups will undergo pre- and post-assessments measuring the executive function and attention before and after the intervention, respectively. However, there will be eight eye-tracking training sessions for the intervention group, but only the assessments are received in the control group. It is hypothesized that after the training, the performance of the training games and assessments will improve, indicated by increasing accuracy rates, as well as the reaction time of the tasks. The results would provide important information on the value of computerized eye gaze training and would guide the direction of interventions that target on improving the sustained attention and impulse control of children with special needs.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: ADHD; ASD; Learning Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Computerized training program; Other: Placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 96
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
    • Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 6 years to 12 years (CHILD)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• a total of 96 primary school children (aged between 6 to 12 years) with special needs, defined by psychological disorders such as ASD, ADHD, ADD, and Dyslexia

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children with mental retardation will be excluded

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Interventional Model: PARALLEL
• Masking: NONE

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
EXPERIMENTAL: Experimental Group; A computerized eye -tracking program training the eye gaze fixation with the target to improve impulse control and sustained attention of children with special needs	Other: Computerized training program; Eye-gaze fixation computer based training program
PLACEBO_COMPARATOR: Control Group; Computerized program	Other: Placebo; Pac-Man, Zookeeper, Tetris; Other Names: Computerized program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention Test (Cognitive Test)	flanker inhibitory control and attention test to assess their attention	through study completion, an average of 2 year
Dimensional Change Card Sort Test (Psychological Test Battery)	the Dimensional Change Card Sort Test to measure executive function	through study completion, an average of 2 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (ACTUAL): September 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (ACTUAL): August 30, 2019
• Study Completion (ACTUAL): September 10, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 22, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 25, 2019
• First Posted (ACTUAL): November 26, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (ACTUAL): November 26, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 25, 2019
• Last Verified: November 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Eye-tracking; Impulse control; Sustained attention; Special needs; Computerized training
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Nervous System Diseases; Neurologic Manifestations; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Communication Disorders; Learning Disabilities
• Other Study ID Numbers: 2018-0298

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No